Convertible furniture having a frame and a pivoting member



A ril 8, 1969 A. DAUWALDER CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A FRAME AND A PIVOTING MEMBER Sheet of 4 Filed May 9, 1967 April 8, 1969 A. DAUWALDER 3,436,768

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A FRAME AND A PIVOTING MEMBER Filed May 9, 1967 Sheet v 2 of 4 April 1969 A. DAUWALDER 3,436,768

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A FRAME AND A PIVOTING MEMBER Filed May 9, 1967 Sheet L of 4 April 1969 A. DAUWALDER 3,436,768

CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A FRAME AND A PIVOTING MEMBER Filed May 9, 1967 Sheet of 4 United States Patent 3,436,768 CONVERTIBLE FURNITURE HAVING A FRAME AND A PIVOTING MEMBER Armin Dauwalder, Fluelerstrasse, Altdorf, Switzerland Filed May 9, 1967, Ser. No. 637,259 Int. Cl. A47b 85/08 U.S. Cl. 52 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A convertible piece of furniture comprising a frame and a double-sided pivoting member connected thereto through a pivoting mechanism and capable of pivoting through an angle of approximately 180, the pivoting mechanism being provided with a toothed segment and located eccentrically to the transverse central plane of the pivoting member.

The present invention relates to a piece of furniture comprising a frame and a double-sided member connected thereto through a pivoting mechanism and capable of pivoting through an angle of approximately 180.

Pieces of furniture incorporating a pivoting member are already known. For instance, there have been disclosed so-called folding beds in which the bed proper is mounted on a frame for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis; as desired, the bed may be pivoted outwardly to its position of use, or else it may be pivoted inwardly to rest in the frame portion of the piece of furniture. In most cases, the piece of furniture can be closed in this position by doors located on the frame, by pivoting lids or the like, so that such piece of furniture looks like a cabinet or chest of drawers and the bed remains invisible. Other pieces of furniture have been disclosed in which a pivoting section is rotatably mounted in a frame and has furniture elements incorporated on either side. For instance, a member pivoting about a vertical axis and mounted in a frame may be fitted on the forward portion thereof with book-shelves, whereas at the inside thereof it may be formed with drawers and have a mirror located thereon. Furniture of this kind is particularly suitable for use in multipurpose rooms, especially in combined sitting rooms and bedrooms. The object achieved in a piece of furniture of this type is that selectively either the front portion will be visible from the outside to give it a sittingroom appearance, or that the portion disposed inside of this furniture will be accessible in the aforementioned position or, respectively, can be placed in its position of use.

However, this type of furniture still has various shortcomings. If the pivotable member for use on either side is to have a minimum breadth, then this necessarily determines also the depth of the piece of furniture as a whole, as care must be taken to ensure a flawless pivoting movement. This is why pieces of furniture designed in this manner-for instance, if the pivoting member is designed to carry a bed-require a comparatively large depth giving these pieces of furniture a clumsy appearance, so that they do not match any longer with other furniture in the room, do not provide a good utilisation of space available and often require too much surface area for support.

Hence, the present invention has for its object to pro vide a piece of furniture of the type described above in which the aforementioned shortcomings are avoided. The solution according to the present invention consists in providing that the pivoting mechanism causes upon rotation of the pivotable member a positively controlled displacing movement of the turning center on the frame, and that the turning center on the pivotable member is located eccentrically to the transverse central plane thereof, the whole being arranged in such a manner that, as it starts turning, the portion of the pivotable member having a greater width moves outwardly from the frame of the furniture so that the piece of furniture as a whole need not have as large a depth as would correspond to the width or to half the width, respectively, of the pivotable member. On further turning beyond the central position that portion of the pivotable section having a greater width returns again into the position corresponding to the starting one.

A very reliable and sturdy construction is obtained where a toothed segment is fixedly mounted respectively on top and at the bottom of the pivotable member which are disposed eccentrically to the transverse central plane of the pivotable section and mesh with gear racks attached to the frame in a longitudinal direction of the front side of the furniture, and by providing that the axle-end pivots of the toothed segment are each mounted in a guide slot in the frame arranged parallel to the gear rack.

A special advantage will be gained 'by providing the pivotable section of such piece of furniture with a folding bed at the inside thereof. This will permit accommodating sufiiciently large beds in the movable member without requiring a specially great depth for the piece of furniture.

Although the pivoting mechanism may also find application in pieces of furniture having its pivotable member rotating about a horizontal axis, it will be preferable for the axis of rotation to be mounted in a vertical direction. Among other advantages, this embodiment will permit easier manipulation; moreover, the drawers and book-shelves of the pivotable member will invariably remain in horizontal planes.

The present invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings perspectively illustrating by way of example a preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a piece of furniture, exposing to view its front, upper and lateral portion, in which the front portion of the pivotable member points outwardly;

FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG. 1, with the pivotable member turned into the central position;

FIG. 3 is a front and top view, on a larger scale, of a toothed segment and, respectively, of the gear rack associated with a pivoting mechanism, as well as of an axle-end pivot having a guide slot which is partly not shown in the drawing; and

FIG. 4 shows a piece of furniture as viewed in FIG. 1, with the pivotable member turned through an angle of and having a folding bed disposed inside thereof and placed in its position of use.

A piece of furniture 1 has a frame 2 on which there is mounted a member designated, as a whole, by 3 and capable of pivoting through an angle of 180. This member, herein briefly referred to as pivot member 3, is formed with various furniture elements 5, 6, 7 accessible from the front side 4 thereof. Thus, the lower portion of the pivot member 3 has a drawer 5 provided therein, on top of which there are arranged book-shelves 6 and 7 in spaced relationship. On top of the uppermost book-shelf 7 there is disposed a compartment (not shown in more details) which is closed by a lid 8. The sides 9 of the pivot member 3 may cover the front sides 6a and 7a, respectively, of the book-shelves, or else they may be inwardly recessed in the area of the shelves as shown in the drawing for the sake of better illustration. The pivot member 3 may contain various furniture elements, such as chests boards and the like, which may be adapted to be closed by doors.

However, if desirable, the front side 4 of the pivot member may be formed with a fiat door or the like.

The piece of furniture 1 is provided with two pivoting mechanisms, designated as a whole by and 10a, respectively, the former 10 being located in the head area 21, whereas the latter mechanism 10a is arranged in the bottom area 22 of the frame 2 and, respectively, in the areas 23 and 24 of the pivot member adjacent to said areas 21 and 22. The pivoting mechanism 10 according to the present invention is associated with a toothed segment 11 which is located eccentrically to the cross-sectional central plane of the pivot member 3 in the head area 23 thereof. It will be seen that the transverse central plane of the pivot member is indicated by a dot-dash line 12. The toothed segment 11 has a somewhat larger tooth sector than half of a toothed wheel and meshes with a gear rack 13 which is stationarily mounted in the frame 2 and is longitudinally oriented in alignment with the longitudinal direction of the front side 4 of the furniture 1 (see, in particular, FIGURES 2 and 3). A pivot connected to the pivot member 3 is provided in the turning center 14 of the toothed segment 11, which pivot 15 passes in a guiding slot 16 arranged parallel to the gear rack 13.

FIG. 1 shows the pivot member 3 having its front side 4 turned outwardly, with the pivoting mechanism 10 according to the present invention in its starting position. Even in this position the toothed segment 11 makes engagement with the gear rack 13 which, in FIG. 1, is not shown in more details. If the pivot member 3 is now rotated in the clockwise direction, the pivot 15 firmly connected thereto passes Within the guiding slot 16. Since said pivot 15 is not arranged centrally of the front side 4 of the pivot member but eccentrically to the transverse central plane indicated by the dot-dash line 12, the frame 2 need not be capable of receiving even half of the pivot member in its depth but only that portion which is defined by the distance a of the pivot 15 from the side 9 of the pivot member. As the pivot member 3 performs its swiveling movement, the toothed segment 11 firmly connected thereto moves along the gear rack 13 by making successively engagement with its teeth, whereby a linear movement corresponding to the direction of the guiding slot 16 is superimposed upon the pivot member 3 passing within said slot 16. FIG. 2, shows the pivot member 3 after a pivotal movement through an angle of 90. The central portion of the toothed segment 11 makes engagement with the gear rack 13 centrally thereof, with the pivot 15 also located in the transverse central plane of the frame 2 (see, in particular, FIGURES 2 and 3).

FIG. 4 shows how the pivot member 3 has been rotated further through another 90 from the position shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, so that the whole pivotal movement makes an angle of 180. The toothed segment 11 and the pivot 15 associated therewith are now positioned at the right end of the guiding slot 16 and the inner section of the pivot member 3 is now facing outwardly. Said inner section 25 is formed with a folding bed 27 pivoting about a horizontal axis 26 and including a leg member 28 also capable of pivoting. The pivoting mechanism 10a according to the present invention which is received in the bottom area 22 of the frame 2 corresponds to the pivoting 4 mechanism 10 received in the head area 21. As will be seen, with reference to FIG. 4, from the board 30 indicated by the dot-dash line, the pivoting mechanism 10 is embedded or covered as a whole within the entire head area 21 and bottom area 22, respectively, so that they remain invisible and are protected from dust.

The piece of furniture according to the present invention has the particular advantage that even a wide pivot member 3 requires only a comparatively small depth of the furniture 1 or of its frame. Another advantage is the comparatively simple design both of the furniture as a whole and of the pivoting mechanism 10. The latter is also robust and is foolproof in operation, does not require special maintenance, and is well adapted for accommodation within the furniture, remaining invisible from the outside.

Since it is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the above description without departing from the nature or spirit thereof, this invention is not restricted thereto except as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A convertible piece of furniture comprising a frame and a double sided member connected thereto through a pivoting mechanism and capable of pivoting through an angle of approximately having a pivoting member having a turning center on which it is mounted, characterized in that upon rotation of said pivoting members a positively controlled displacement of the turning center on the frame is effected and that said turning center on the pivoting member is disposed eccentrically to the transverse central plane thereof, the whole being arranged in such a manner that, as it starts turning in movement, the portion of said pivoting member having a greater width moves outwardly from the frame of the furniture and moves back at the end of movement.

2. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 1, having a member pivoting about a vertical axis and the pivoting mechanism is provided respectively in the upper and lower area with a toothed segment firmly connected with said pivoting member and located eccentrically to the transverse central plane thereof, a gear rack attached to said frame, each said toothed segment making engagement with said gear rack, and wherein the axle and pivots of the toothed segment are mounted each respectively in a guiding slot of the frame running parallel to the gear rack, said gear racks extending parallel to the front side of the furniture.

3. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 2 and a folding bed carried in the inner portion of said pivoting member.

References Cited CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 297118; 312-322 

